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Category Archives: 2016-01

Rat on a plane: Air India flight returns to Mumbai after rodent spotted on board –
An Air India plane flying to London was forced to return to Mumbai after passengers spotted a rat on board, the airline said on Thursday. Though the rat was not found, the pilot returned to Mumbai on Wednesday keeping passenger safety in mind, Air India said in a statement. Passengers were later flown by a separate aircraft to London. The aircraft would be fumigated and checked before it is returned to service. Maintenance workers would have to make sure that the rat did not damage equipment or chew any wires and the plane is certified to be rodent-free, an airline official said. [Daily Telegraph]

China’s new two-child policy law takes effect –
Married couples in China will from Friday (Jan 1) be allowed to have two children, after concerns over an ageing population and shrinking workforce ushered in an end to the country’s controversial one-child policy. The change, which was announced in October by the ruling Communist Party, takes effect from Jan 1, 2016, Beijing’s official Xinhua news agency reported over the weekend. The “one-child policy”, instituted in the late 1970s, restricted most couples to only a single offspring through a system of fines for violators and even forced abortions. For years, authorities argued that it was a key contributor to China’s economic boom and had prevented 400 million births. [Channel News Asia]

Royal Shakespeare Company reveals its high-tech tips: carrots, cereal and tea bags –
The Royal Shakespeare Company is to open up its archives for the first time, sharing the behind-the-scenes secrets that have made their most accomplished productions. Anyone hoping to hear the highest-tech tricks of the trade, however, may be in for a surprise, as they disclose techniques even a schoolboy could master. The RSC’s first permanent exhibition of its own archives will show visitors how the company uses carrot sticks, rice crispies, and glue to pull off specific special effects. It will also how it uses tea bags and water to age the look of ordinary paper to make it appear Elizabethan: a trick used by schools up and down the land. The visitor attraction, called The Play’s The Thing, will open in June 2016, making it the RSC’s first exhibition devoted to the making of Shakespeare plays. It will be part of the restoration of the Swan Wing, built in 1879 and the oldest part of the Stratford-Upon-Avon theatre. [Daily Telegraph]Swan_Theatre_Stratford

Paul McKenna: I chose my wife by Excel spreadsheet –
Paul McKenna, the hypnotist and self-help guru, has disclosed that he decided who to marry by using an Excel spreadsheet. The 52-year-old revealed the software – normally used by accountants and office administrators – helped him to choose his wife-to-be, his long-time personal assistant Kate Davey. McKenna, who is worth around £40m, said a friend had pointed out that although he had dated a “lot of beautiful women”, he “didn’t actually like them”. He was encouraged to “make an Excel spreadsheet” to find out who he loved – and it turned out to be Kate, who has worked with him for 20 years. The pair revealed their feelings to each other three years ago and are now engaged to be married. [Daily Telegraph]Paul McKenna

Gunfire and loud explosions are heard at an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, Punjab, as anti-terrorist operations continue. A further two militants, for a total of six, are reported to have been killed; seven military and paramilitary personnel are reported to have been killed, with up to 20 other security personnel wounded. (DNA)

Sexy China TV drama busted, returns to air more sedate –
A Chinese television drama that was pulled off the air after the female characters appeared on screen showing cleavage has returned to the screen, though this time showing only the actresses’ heads, state news agency Xinhua said on Saturday. The drama, “The Empress of China” also known as the “Saga of Wu Zetian”, was removed by commercial satellite station Hunan TV for “technical reasons” in late December, Xinhua said. Chinese Internet users responded by complaining about the censorship on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. Several complained that they would not be able to see the hundreds of costume changes by Fan Bingbing, one of China’s most popular actresses, who plays the Empress Wu. [Reuters]

Five of the terrorists who attacked an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, Punjab are reported to have been killed; mopping-up and search operations continue. National Security Guard officials state the operations will continue until the air base is made safe. (Indian Express)

In efforts to control an influx of migrants, Denmark introduces ten days of identity checks on its southern border with Germany, while Sweden introduces similar measures on the Øresund Bridge between itself and Denmark. All three countries are subject to the Schengen Agreement on the free movement of people. (BBC)

German carpenter invents on-off contraception switch for sperm –
A German carpenter has invented a valve which he claims will revolutionise contraception, by allowing a man to turn the flow of sperm from his testicles on and off at the flick of a switch. Clemens Bimek told Spiegel magazine the idea first came to him some 20 years ago, when he was watching a television documentary about contraception, and wondered whether it would be possible to control the flow of sperm with a simple valve. When he discovered that no one had ever filed a patent for such a device, he decided to develop his own. “Many of the doctors I consulted didn’t take me seriously. But there were some who encouraged me to go on tinkering and helped me with their expertise,” Mr Bimek said. Now the valve he has developed is to be implanted in 25 men in trials – starting this year. [Daily Telegraph]

Cricket record: Pranav Dhanawade hits 1,009 in school match –
An Indian teenager scored more than 1,000 runs in a single innings to set a new world record in school cricket. Fifteen-year-old Pranav Dhanawade broke the previous record of 628 set by Arthur Collins in 1899 on Monday. But he continued his innings in the HT Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament and reached 1,009 runs. He smashed 59 sixes and 127 fours in 395 minutes before his KC Gandhi School declared the innings at 1,465 against Arya Gurukul School on Tuesday. [BBC]Sachin Tendulkar tweet

‘Anti-IS group’ claims BBC website attack –
A group that says it targets online activity linked to so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed it was behind an attack on the BBC’s website. All the BBC’s websites were unavailable for several hours on New Year’s Eve after what a BBC source described as a “distributed denial of service” attack. The group, calling itself New World Hacking, said it had carried out the attack as a “test of its capabilities”. In a tweet to BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, the group said: “We are based in the US, but we strive to take down Isis [IS] affiliated websites, also Isis members. “The reason we really targeted [the] BBC is because we wanted to see our actual server power.” Earlier, New World Hacking had said: “It was only a test, we didn’t exactly plan to take it down for multiple hours. Our servers are quite strong.” [BBC]

Islamic State militants continue to besiege the Libyan oil port of Sidra, attacking checkpoints on the road to the port, leaving seven guards dead. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said an oil storage tank in the port was set on fire by a long-range rocket, and that the oil tank fire started just as firefighters were close to bringing under control another blaze at an oil tank that was hit during fighting in the nearby Ra’s Lanuf Refinery on Monday. (Reuters)

Twitter closer to allowing longer tweets of up to 10,000 characters –
Twitter is considering ditching its 140-character limit in tweets. After 24 hours of speculation it seems the the social media company is considering a new 10,000 character limit – the same as for Direct Messages. It’s the latest effort by the firm to appeal to a wider audience. Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey has said he isn’t definitely set on sticking with 140 characters. [BBC] See Top twitter Trends

Netflix extends its service to almost all the world –
Netflix has gone live in nearly every country in the world. The firm announced it had switched on its service in 130 additional countries. It said it was still trying to expand to China. The other exceptions are North Korea, Syria and Crimea, where it is banned from operating by US law. The announcement was made by the firm’s chief executive Reed Hastings at his keynote speech at the CES tech show in Las Vegas. He also confirmed that Netflix would begin offering HDR (high dynamic range) content later this year. The company’s shares jumped to about 8% over their opening price following the announcements. [BBC]

‘Star Wars: Force Awakens’ Tops ‘Avatar’ to Become No. 1 Film of All Time in North America –
J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the highest-grossing film of all time in North America, not accounting for inflation. On Wednesday, the Disney and Lucasfilm mega-blockbuster overtook the $760.5 million earned by James Cameron’s Avatar. Force Awakens — which grossed $8 million on Tuesday for a domestic total of $758.2 million — achieved the milestone in only 20 days in release, a remarkable feat. [Hollywood Reporter]

Igloo built in middle of downtown Chicago road stumps the internet –
An igloo built in the middle of a busy road in downtown Chicago has captivated the internet and left people passing by a little confused. Internet users speculated the 5ft-tall igloo home built under a streetlight near a busy intersection had been constructed by a homeless person. However the person who created the home from slabs of ice has been identified as local resident David Sudler. He built the chilly fort over two nights using the ice blocks and a milk crate to stack the slabs and create the roof. [Daily Telegraph]Adam Robinson Tweet

Facebook wants to kill off your phone number –
The days of the phone number are, quite literally numbered, thanks to the inexhorable rise of the company’s Messenger app, according to David Marcus, Facebook’s vice president of messaging products. “Think about it: SMS and texting came to the fore in the time of flip phones. Now, many of us can do so much more on our phones; we went from just making phone calls and sending basic text-only messages to having computers in our pockets,” Marcus wrote in a blog post. “With Messenger, we offer all the things that made texting so popular, but also so much more,” he said. “Yes, you can send text messages, but you can also send stickers, photos, videos, voice clips, GIFs, your location, and money to people. You can make video and voice calls while at the same time not needing to know someone’s phone number.” [Daily Telegraph]

Gunmen open fire on tourists at a hotel close to the Giza pyramids. There were no casualties in the attack, which caused some damage to the hotel, and the attackers were arrested shortly afterwards.(BBC)

Saudi-led coalition airstrikes today reportedly hit the presidential palace and a mountain military base to the south of Sana’a, causing children and teachers in several schools to flee. There were no immediate reports of casualties. (Reuters)

Secret Netflix code unlocks thousands of hidden genres –
Netflix’s incredibly niche, personalised subgenres have long captivated movie nerds, from “Steamy Crime Movies from the 1970s” to “Period Pieces About Royalty Based on Real Life”.
The genres, based on a complicated algorithm that uses reams of data about users’ viewing habits to recommend exactly what a particular user is into, number in the tens of thousands. When Netflix thinks you’ll like sentimental Spanish-language dramas or gritty tearjerkers, they’ll show up on your home screen, but aside from that, they’re not easy to find. But a simple web address trick has emerged showing how you can find any one of these genres simply by switching a number in a URL. If you’re logged into Netflix, enter:
http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/XXXX
where “XXXX” is a series of digits – into your browser’s toolbar to bring up one of the thousands of genres in Netflix’s library. 1089 is “Mind-bending Movies”, for example; while 354 is “Movies Starring Matthew McConaughey” – currently a genre of one film. Not all numbers will result in a subgenre, and given Netflix’s ever-changing algorithms, they might move around every now and then, while there may be regional differences meaning that some codes don’t work. [Daily Telegraph]

Three people are unaccounted for and at least 135 structures are destroyed, including the historic Yarloop Workshops, following a bushfire in the small Western Australian town of Yarloop. Reports coming out of the area suggest the town of Yarloop has been almost completely destroyed with one local official, Murray Cowper, saying, “A big fireball came through and there was no way they were going to stop it. This could well be the end of the town”. (SBS)(BBC)

The chief of Cologne‘s police force, Wolfgang Albers, is relieved of his duties following criticism of his handling of violent clashes and sexual assaults by migrant gangs in the city on New Year’s Eve. (The Independent)

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini ‘to end stormy second marriage after 19 months’ –
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini is lodging divorce papers to end her stormy second marriage, it was reported on Sunday. The X Factor judge will cite her French husband Jean-Bernard’s “unreasonable behaviour” and formally end their marriage after 19 months, it is claimed. The Sun on Sunday reports former Girls Aloud star Cheryl, who was previously married to footballer Ashley Cole, has been unhappy that Jean-Bernard, 35, didn’t like her spending time with other men. [Daily Telegraph] In November 2015 Fernandez-Versini took legal action over ‘white powder’ bathroom picture after the 2015 British Fashion Awards.Cheryl Fernandez-Versini

Singer David Bowie has died at the age of 69 from cancer. Tributes have been paid from around the world to the “extraordinary artist” whose last album was released days ago. His son, film director Duncan Jones, confirmed the news and a statement was issued on his social media accounts. “David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer,” it said, asking for privacy for the family. [BBC]Iman and David Bowie

‘El Chapo’ Guzman: Sean Penn interview provokes US scorn –
The Obama administration and a US presidential hopeful have criticised Sean Penn’s interview with Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. It was conducted in October in the Mexican jungle after Guzman’s jail break, and published by Rolling Stone. A White House spokesman said the Hollywood actor’s “so-called interview” was “maddening”, while Republican Marco Rubio said it was “grotesque”. Guzman, 58, was recaptured on Friday after months on the run. Unnamed Mexican officials say Penn’s secret meeting helped lead them to the boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel. He has now been returned to the maximum-security Altiplano jail, from where he escaped in July via a tunnel dug to the shower in his cell. [BBC]

U.S. Army officials set August 8 as the start date for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s court-martial. Bergdahl, charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, was held captive by the Taliban for five years after he left his base in Afghanistan. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for early this week. (AP)

Lionel Messi wins Ballon d’Or over Ronaldo & Neymar –
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best player for the fifth time. The 28-year-old Argentine had 41.33% of the vote, with Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo (27.76%) second and Barca’s Neymar (7.86%) third. Either Messi or Ronaldo, who became a three-time winner last year, have won the past eight awards. United States midfielder Carli Lloyd, who scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final, won the women’s award. England coach Mark Sampson was beaten to the women’s football coach of the year award by USA boss Jill Ellis. [BBC] See List of the DayLionel Messi

Video of the Day –

EHANG184, world’s first Autonomous Aerial Vehicle

List of the Day –

Past Ballon d’Or winners

2014: Cristiano Ronaldo

2008: Cristiano Ronaldo

2013: Cristiano Ronaldo

2007: Kaka

2012: Lionel Messi

2006: Fabio Cannavaro

2011: Lionel Messi

2005: Ronaldinho

2010: Lionel Messi

2004: Ronaldinho

2009: Lionel Messi

2003: Zinedine Zidane

Messi’s 2015 in numbers

61 games, 52 goals and 26 assists.

A goal every 101 minutes and an assist every 202 minutes.

Best minutes-per-goal rate – 80 – of anyone scoring a minimum of 10 goals across Europe’s top five leagues during 2015.

Directly involved in 49 goals in La Liga – 34 scored and 15 assists – which was the joint-most with Ronaldo in 2015 across the top five European leagues.

Scored in all six club tournaments in 2015, as Barcelona won five of them.

Armed militiamen, also known as the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, who are occupying the USFWS administered Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, tear down a part of a fence that they claim was erected by the federal government in order to allow privately owned cattle to graze on the adjacent public land. USFWS condemns the actions through a written statement which states that, “Removing fences, damaging any refuge property, or unauthorized use of equipment would be additional unlawful actions by the illegal occupiers. Any movement of cattle onto the refuge or other activities that are not specifically authorized by [the Fish and Wildlife Service] constitutes trespassing.” (The Guardian), (The Oregonian)

Thousands of protesters in Leipzig demonstrate against a record refugee influx they blame for mass sexual violence at New Year’s Eve events in Cologne and other German cities. Many chanted ‘We are the people’, ‘Resistance!’ and ‘Deport them!’. The rally was organized by a local chapter of PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident). Six Pakistani men and one Syrian man were also attacked by so-called vigilantes in Cologne, following calls on social media for “revenge” in the wake of the New Year’s Eve assaults. (Daily Mail)

Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall announce engagement –
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and actress-model Jerry Hall are to get married.
They announced their engagement in the births, marriages and deaths section of the Times newspaper, which is owned by Mr Murdoch’s News Corporation company. It will be the fourth marriage for Mr Murdoch, 84, and the first for Miss Hall, 59, although she lived with singer Sir Mick Jagger for many years. The new relationship reportedly began in the summer. A spokesman said: “They have loved these past months together.” [BBC]Rupert MurdochJerry Hall

Winning tickets in the nearly $1.6-billion Powerball lottery were sold in California, Florida and Tennessee, officials said on Thursday, leaving at least three people to split the record-setting jackpot. California Lottery officials confirmed that the winning six numbers had been purchased at a convenience store outside Los Angeles, as well as at locations in Florida and Tennessee. The identity of the winners was not yet known. Lottery officials said it could be several hours before it is known whether there are other winners in the 44 states, Washington, D.C. and two U.S. territories where Powerball is played. In Chino Hills, a suburb east of Los Angeles, crowds descended on a 7-Eleven store where the winning ticket had been bought, snapping pictures and congratulating staff. The store will receive a $1-million bonus for selling the ticket. The odds of picking a winning combination were 1 in 292 million. [Daily Mail]

Three winning Powerball lottery tickets are sold in the U.S. states of California, Florida, and Tennessee. Each will share the estimated jackpot of US $1.6 billion dollars, the largest lottery jackpot in world history. (ABC News)

Subtropical Storm Alex is located 785 miles (1,260 km) south-southwest of the Azores. Alex is one of just four tropical or subtropical storms to occur in January since 1851, the first year records were kept. The hurricane season begins on June 1 of each year. Alex is expected to hit the Azores on Friday with average rain accumulations of 3 to 5 inches. (The Washington Post)(NHC)

Alan Rickman, Harry Potter and Die Hard actor, dies aged 69 –
Actor Alan Rickman, known for films including Harry Potter, Die Hard and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, has died at the age of 69, his family has said. The star had been suffering from cancer, a statement said. He became one of Britain’s best-loved acting stars thanks to roles including Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films and Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling led the tributes, describing him as “a magnificent actor and a wonderful man”. [BBC]Alan Rickman in 2011

Hatton Garden heist: Three men found guilty over £14m jewellery raid –
Three men have been found guilty of involvement in the Hatton Garden safe deposit raid, the largest burglary in British legal history. Jewellery and valuables worth an estimated £14 million were stolen when a gang of thieves carried out the “sophisticated” and meticulously planned break-in over the Easter weekend last year. The group used a drill to bore a hole 20in deep, 10in high and 18in into the wall of a vault in London’s jewellery quarter, before ransacking 73 safety deposit boxes. Following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Carl Wood and William Lincoln were found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to conceal, convert or transfer criminal property, while Hugh Doyle was convicted of concealing, converting or transferring criminal property. [Daily Telegraph]Hatton Garden road sign

Wikipedia Celebrates its 15th birthday –
If you want a modern wonder of the internet, look no further than Wikipedia, which turns 15 years old today. It’s gigantic (more than five million articles in English alone), and gigantically useful for those seeking a grounding in any topic. It has illustrated how the internet and the power of the crowd can disrupt established businesses: both the book-based Encyclopaedia Britannica and Microsoft’s CD-based Encarta fell before the onslaught of a simple collaborative document that anyone could edit and enhance. Even Google failed with its rival, launched in 2008 and killed amid indifference in 2012. It even has a creation myth; people think it was the effort of Jimmy Wales alone, but in fact he and Larry Sanger (an “internet project developer” – thanks, Wikipedia) were working on the idea of an online encyclopedia called Nupedia, which began in 1999. [Daily Telegraph] [This web site is a supporter of Wikipedia]Jimmy Wales

Video of the Day –

22×22 rubik’s cube World Record

List of the Day

15 amazing things since the idea of Wikipedia was launched to the world on January 15, 2001. [Wikipedia]

Millions of people have gathered all this knowledge by working together from everywhere around the world.

Behind the scenes, bots do some of the repetitive jobs so that volunteers don’t have to.

There are almost 2,000 bots approved for use on the English Wikipedia alone, and they even have names. PhotoCatBot helps people find articles that need images.

5

Wikipedia became one of the top 10 websites in the world in 2007.

It’s the only non-profit anywhere near the top.

6

People who work on Wikipedia are called “Wikipedians”.

Building the world’s largest database of information with people from all over can be challenging. Wikipedians write rules, guidelines and essays to help other people understand being a Wikipedian. “No angry mastodons” suggests that you shouldn’t edit when you’re hungry or intoxicated.

7

The first photo ever uploaded to Commons was a pair of quail.

…while this scan of the world’s first photograph uploaded to Wikimedia Commons is entirely inscrutable. Speaking of birds and photos, there is such a thing as pigeon photography: “A homing pigeon was fitted with an aluminium breast harness to which a lightweight time-delayed miniature camera could be attached.” (There was even a stamp for pigeon mail. It’s adorable and shaped like a triangle.)

It simply said, “A dog by which all others are measured.” The English Wikipedia page for poodleis now more than 5,000 words, and includes the many names that people have invented for poodles crossed with other dog breeds: Labradoodle, Poochon, Cockapoo, Spoodle, Maltipoo, Goldendoodle, Schnoodle, Pekapoos, Cavapoo, and Bernedoodle.

9

Wikipedia helps keep the Internet open and free.

In 2012, the Wikipedia communities blacked out the site to protest SOPA.

“Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory were able to make extremely accurate forecasts about the spread of dengue fever in Brazil and flu in the U.S., Japan, Poland and Thailand by examining three years’ worth of Wikipedia search data.”

Gunmen armed with heavy weapons attack a restaurant called Cappuccino and the Splendid Hotel, taking hostages, in the heart of Burkino Faso‘s capital, Ouagadougou. At least 20 people are reportedly killed. (BBC)(The Guardian)

Three men are arrested in the outskirts of Jakarta in connection with the attacks. Police have identified the attackers killed in the raid with two of the men having been imprisoned for terrorism related offences. (AP via Newser)

Obama issues order lifting nuclear-related sanctions on Iran –
U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Saturday lifting sanctions on Iran related to its nuclear program after Tehran fulfilled requirements under a nuclear agreement with world powers, the White House said. Obama determined that Iran’s implementation of the pact “marks a fundamental shift in circumstances with respect to Iran’s nuclear program,” he wrote in the order, released by the White House. [Daily Mail]

Russia may nuke asteroids –
The European Commission funded Russian scientists to develop plans to save the world from rogue asteroids by blowing them up with nuclear weapons. Scientists from the Russia’s top space research institute teamed up with missile and rocket engineers to look at ways of sending a warhead into space under a European Commission funded program called NEOShield. “Work was distributed among various participants from different countries and organisations, and work on deflecting dangerous space objects with nuclear explosions was conducted by Russia” between 2012 and 2015, the Central Scientific Research Institute of Machine Building, part of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said in a press release on Saturday. [Daily Telegraph]

Friends Reunited website to close down –
Friends Reunited – one of the UK’s first social networks – has announced it will soon close. One of its founders Steve Pankhurst explained in an email that the platform was still used by “a handful of members” but that it was “no longer used for the purpose it was built for”. Friends Reunited launched in the year 2000 and was bought by broadcaster ITV for £175m ($250m) in 2005. However, it failed to keep pace with other social networks. It was sold to comic publisher DC Thompson for only £25m in 2009 and Mr Pankhurst wrote in a blog post that the company had offered it back to him a couple of years ago. [BBC]

Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey, 67, dies –
Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey has died at the age of 67, the band has announced. He died in New York City on Monday from complications arising from rheumatoid arthritis, colitis and pneumonia. “Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us,” his family and fellow band members said. The Eagles were one of the most successful bands of the 1970s, with multiple hit singles, including Hotel California in 1976. Frey co-founded the Eagles in 1971 with Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. [BBC]Glenn_Frey

The full list of winners for the 36th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards:
FILM OF THE YEAR: Mad Max: Fury Road
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR: 45 Years
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR: The Look of Silence
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR: Am
ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Tom Courtenay — 45 Years
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR: Charlotte Rampling — 45 Years
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Mark Rylance — Bridge of Spies
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR: Kate Winslet — Steve Jobs
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR: George Miller — Mad Max: Fury Road
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy — Spotlight
BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Tom Hardy — Legend, London Road, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant
BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR: Saoirse Ronan — Brooklyn, Lost River
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR: Maisie Williams — The Falling
PHILIP FRENCH AWARD FOR BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER: John Maclean — Slow West
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR: Stutterer — Benjamin Cleary
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Ed Lachman, cinematography — Caro
DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM: Kenneth Branagh

North Korea claims to invent ‘alcohol which doesn’t give you hangover’ –
They already claim to have cured cancer, Aids and Ebola with a miracle drug produced from ginseng root.
Now North Korean scientists seem to have scaled new heights of greatness with their latest invention – a special blend of liquor which doesn’t give you a hangover. According to the state-controlled newspaper Pyongyang Times, the drink also relies on ginseng root for its medicinal qualities and has been hailed as a “national scientific and technological hit.” The recipe replaces sugar with burnt rice, supposedly eliminating the liquor’s bitter taste along with any risks of a hangover. The drink “is suave and causes no hangovers”, claimed the Pyongyang Times piece, which was entitled: “Liquor wins quality medal for preserving national smack.” It is the latest in a string of outlandish claims made by North Korea’s state media, which once congratulated its supreme commander for learning to drive at the age of three. [Daily Telegraph]

Twitter down in global outage –
Twitter went offline on Tuesday morning for users of both its website and mobile apps. Visitors to the social network were met with a “Something is technically wrong” message on a blue background. Twitter’s status page said: “Some users are currently experiencing problems accessing Twitter. We are aware of the issue and are working towards a resolution.” “Something is technically wrong,” a notice on the Twitter website said. “Thanks for noticing – we’re going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon.” At around 10am service resumed as usual, although was down again shortly before midday and at various times over Tuesday afternoon. [Daily Telegraph] The social network later said an “internal code change” had led to the problem, which lasted six hours 10 minutes. “We reverted the change, which fixed the issue,” it added.Twitter error page

2015 was hottest year ever recorded ‘by far’ –
Blistering heat blanketed the Earth last year like never before, making 2015 by far the hottest year in modern times and raising new concerns about the accelerating pace of climate change. Not only was 2015 the warmest worldwide since 1880, it shattered the previous record held in 2014 by the widest margin ever observed, said the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62 Fahrenheit (0.90 Celsius) above the 20th century average,” said the NOAA report. “This was the highest among all years in the 1880-2015 record.” Compared to 2014, last year was 0.29 Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius) warmer, the “largest margin by which the annual global temperature record has been broken.” [Daily Telegraph]

New evidence suggests a ninth planet lurking at the edge of the solar system –
Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology announced Wednesday that they have found new evidence of a giant icy planet lurking in the darkness of our solar system far beyond the orbit of Pluto. They are calling it “Planet Nine.” Their paper, published in the Astronomical Journal, estimates the planet’s mass as five to 10 times that of the Earth. But the authors, astronomers Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin, have not observed the planet directly. Instead, they have inferred its existence from the motion of recently discovered dwarf planets and other small objects in the outer solar system. Those smaller bodies have orbits that appear to be influenced by the gravity of a hidden planet – a “massive perturber.” The astronomers suggest it might have been flung into deep space long ago by the gravitational force of Jupiter or Saturn. [Washington Post]

President Putin ‘probably’ approved Litvinenko murder –
The murder of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 in the UK was ‘probably’ approved by President Vladimir Putin, an inquiry has found. Mr Putin is likely to have signed off the poisoning of Mr Litvinenko with polonium-210 in part due to personal “antagonism” between the pair, it said. Home Secretary Theresa May said the murder was a “blatant and unacceptable” breach of international law. But the Russian Foreign Ministry said the public inquiry was “politicised”. Litvinenko aged 43 in London in 2006, days after drinking tea poisoned with the radioactive substance. The former Russian spy – who is believed to have later worked for MI6 – had been a fierce critic of the Kremlin. [BBC]

Norwegian in underwear clings to car roof to stop thief –
A man clad only in boxer shorts stopped a thief from stealing his car in southern Norway – by clinging on to the roof in a hair-raising ride at -17C. Police say the owner was left “pretty bloody” after the car crashed into a safety barrier on a bridge. A suspect has been taken into police custody. The owner, 25, woke up in Kristiansand in the early hours of Wednesday when he heard his car engine firing up. He raced out, grabbed a car door-handle and refused to let go. The thief drove the car at up to 90km/h (56 mph), he said, but the owner managed to smash the back window with his knee and grappled with the thief before the car hit the safety barrier. [BBC]

It Cost Google One Billion Dollars to Keep its Search Bar on iPhones –
Google’s search bar has been a fixture on Apple devices for years, something that’s always seemed counter-intuitive, what with Android being iOS’s only real competitor. According to Bloomberg, Google’s search engine is only exists there because of a $1 billion payment made to Apple in 2014. Bloomberg found the details in court proceedings from an Oracle vs Google lawsuit. Oracle has been fighting Google since 2010 over the search giant’s use of Oracle’s Java software in the development of Android. Somewhere along the way, Oracle’s lawyers got their hands on internal Google finances, which were brought up in open court, before Google’s attorneys pleaded to have the transcript redacted and sealed. According to Oracle’s lawyers — and neither confirmed nor denied by Google’s side — Google paid Apple $1 billion (that equates to around £701,000,000) in 2014 to keep its search bar on Apple devices. The two companies then have a revenue-sharing agreement to split any profits Google makes from Apple’s devices, although the breakdown is not known. [Gizmondo]

Blizzard blankets eastern seaboard of US in deep snow –
A huge blizzard has blanketed the US eastern seaboard in snow, bringing New York and Washington DC to a standstill and affecting some 85 million people. Up to 40in (102cm) of snow settled in parts, paralysing rail and air links, and cutting power to 200,000 people. A travel ban in New York, which saw its second highest snowfall on record, is set to be lifted later on Sunday. At least 18 deaths, from road accidents but also snow shovelling, have been blamed on the weather since Friday. New York’s Central Park received 26.8in, the second-biggest fall recorded since 1869 and just shy of the all-time high, 26.9in, recorded in February 2006. [BBC]

Jordanian soldiers kill 12 “infiltrators” and wound several others, on the border with Syria, foiling an attempt by dozens of smugglers to cross into the kingdom. The soldiers also confiscated more than 2 million narcotics pills that were left behind. (Reuters)

This potentially record storm, which is predicted to generate blizzard conditions through a third day on Sunday, has caused at least 10 deaths, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, led to more than 8,300 canceled flights, stranded many travelers on major highways and, with up to 70 mph winds, produced record-high tides along the Delaware and New Jersey shores. (NBC News)(Reuters)(ESPN)

Poland surveillance law plan angers protesters: Thousands of Poles have taken part in marches in Warsaw and other cities to protest about plans of the conservative government, which they say will curtail privacy and freedom. (BBC News)

Tokyo police roll out 3D mug shots –
Tokyo’s police force is to start taking 3D mug shots of suspects being held in custody, it’s reported. The images will form part of a database which officers hope will make it easier to analyse CCTV footage, the the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports. All of the Japanese capital’s 102 police stations will be fitted with a 3D camera as part of the new process, which will begin in April. “As we can identify the suspects more quickly and accurately, our arrest rate is expected to become greater,” one senior officer tells the paper. Unlike regular two-dimensional mug shots, the 3D images can be adjusted to match the angle of security camera footage, which is often shot from above, rather than at face height. At the moment police only photograph suspects’ faces from the front and diagonally, making it difficult to match mug shots to CCTV images. Tokyo’s police force says it is the first to roll out the cameras across all of its stations – until now they have only been installed at some regional police headquarters in Japan. [BBC]

Australia makes ‘captain’s call’ on best words of 2015 –
Captain’s call – a phrase “plucked” from the cricket pitch and politicised by former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott – has become the Macquarie Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2015. Mr Abbott’s controversial choice to award Prince Philip a knighthood was one of his many “captain’s calls”. The noun is defined as “a decision made by a political or business leader without consultation with colleagues”. The dictionary said the word “perfectly encapsulates” Australia in 2015. [BBC] See List of the Day

Video of the Day –

Liquid Ping Pong in Space – RED 4K

List of the Day –

Australian Word of the Year runners-up

lumbersexual: a portmanteau of lumberjack and metrosexual – referring to urban men who adopt the style of an outdoorsman as a fashion statement.

deso: Colloquially refers to a designated driver, who refrains from drinking alcohol in order to drive others safely home. Also, deso driver.

open kimono: A business policy of sharing information freely with an outside party.

keyboard warrior: a person who adopts an excessively aggressive style in online discussions which they would not normally adopt in person-to-person communication, often in support of a cause, theory, world view, etc.

Irish potato picture sells for £750,000 –
Yearning for starchy carbohydrates after a few drinks is nothing new – but a businessman has taken it to a new level. After a few glasses of wine, he bought a picture of an Irish potato for £750,000. “It’s not the first time that someone has bought the art right off my wall,” photographer Kevin Abosch told The Sunday Times newspaper. “We had two glasses of wine and he said, ‘I really like that.’ “Two more glasses of wine and he said, ‘I really want that.’ We set the price two weeks later.” Abosch took the picture of the organic Irish potato back in 2010 as part of a series, but he’s already known for snapping celebrities like Johnny Depp and Steven Spielberg. A starting price for one of his portraits will reportedly set you back around £200,000 at least. The artist had the spud delivered to him in a batch of organic vegetables, and says he understands how some people could see the price tag as being a little “absurd”. [BBC]

Officials from the New York State parks system have proposed to temporarily “shut off” the American portion of Niagara Falls (also known as American Falls) within three years. The shut off will allow the replacement of two 115-year-old pedestrian stone bridges that are unsafe for the public. (Sky News)

Australians choose alternative flag which removes the Union flag in new survey –
Australians have chosen a favourite alternative national flag amid calls to remove the Union flag from the current “outdated” design which has been flown since 1901. The preferred design, labelled the Southern Horizon, was the most popular of six options and captured 31 per cent of the vote in a survey conducted by the University of Western Sydney. The second most popular option, the Reconciliation Flag, received 28 per cent of the vote. The competition was prompted by the New Zealand government’s decision to hold a referendum on changing the flag – a process which is due to be completed in March. [Daily Telegraph]Southern Horizon flag

Romania offers neighboring Moldova a $65 million (60 million euros) loan to help stave off economic collapse and keep the former Soviet Republic on a pro-European course, provided the Moldovan government implements major reforms. Government funds were needed to cover more than $1 billion that “disappeared” from three Moldovan banks in November 2014. In the frigid capital Chișinău, 15,000 people from both the pro-European and pro-Russian sides of the political divide, protested on Sunday against the current government and demanded new elections. Prime MinisterPavel Filip, who took office last week, is the country’s sixth PM in a year. (AP)(Reuters)(The New York Times)

Authorities in the People’s Republic of China say that Wang Baoan is under suspicion for “serious violation of discipline” (a phrase usually associated with corruption charges) as the head of that country’s powerful National Bureau of Statistics. (BBC)

Hapless US sailors rescued for ninth time during bid to cross the Atlantic –
Two ‘Captain Calamity’ sailors have been rescued for a ninth time in seven months while trying to sail from Norway to America. Bungling Bob Weise and Steve Shapiro, both 71, managed to set their boat on fire having left a candle burning while it was moored, just the latest in a long line of mishaps to delay their sailing adventure. The hapless US yachtsmen set off from Scandinavia in their 40ft sailing boat Nora for a ‘last hurrah’ expedition last July but have since endured a catalogue of disasters. Their 18-ton boat suffered “considerable” damage in the latest incident after it tipped over while in Hayle Harbour, Cornwall, exacerbated by the fact they had left a candle burning when they popped ashore for groceries. [Daily Telegraph]

Record-breaking $6.2M raised for mental health during Bell Let’s Talk Day –
It’s a new Bell Let’s Talk Day record. Bell says 125,915,295 calls, texts, tweets and shares on Wednesday raised $ 6,295,764.75 for Canadian mental health. “I’m truly overwhelmed by the depth and breadth of the non-stop conversation about mental health this year and by what we’ve all built together,” said Clara Hughes, Canada’s six-time Olympic medalist and Bell Let’s Talk national spokesperson since the initiative began in 2010. [CTV News Windsor] See Top Twitter Trends

Amnesty International reports that at least 160 young Iranians are currently awaiting execution and 73 others have been put to death between 2005 and 2015, which including sentencing girls as young as 9 and boys as young as 15 to death. (The Huffington Post)

In tennis, the sport’s governing bodies launch an independent inquiry into the anti-corruption unit following a report published by the BBC and BuzzFeed about allegations of failing to pursue allegations ofmatch fixing. (ABC Australia)

Peta’s NSFW Super Bowl 50 advert banned by TV execs –
An advert produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, intended to air during the Super Bowl next month, has been barred from viewers’ screens by TV executives. The advert, depicting two couples having sex, is intended to encourage people to adopt veganism. “Vegans last longer. See the side by side proof here,” reads the supporting text, as the vegan and meat-eating couples are shown going at it hammer-and-tongs. The meat-eaters’ love-making is over within moments of the advert beginning – while the vegans keep going until the end. PETA says it planned for the clip to be aired during the Super Bowl, where advertisers pay millions of dollars to target US TV’s largest, most receptive audience of the year. “We did try to submit the ad last fall but we didn’t get a response from the executives at CBS,” a spokesman for the animal rights organisation said. However, since news broke that the advert was banned it’s received a huge amount of attention, winning 1.1 million YouTube views in just three days. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the DayPETA Tweet

Italian town welcomes first baby for 28 years –
A small town in northern Italy is celebrating the arrival of its first baby since the 1980s. The mayor of Ostana, which lies in the mountains of the Piedmont region, says the new arrival is a “dream come true” for the tiny community, which has seen its population plummet over the past 100 years. Baby Pablo, who was born in a Turin hospital last week, takes the number of inhabitants to 85, although only about half live there permanently, La Stampa newspaper reports. Mayor Giacomo Lombardo says that while 1,000 people called Ostana home in the early 1900s, a steady drop in the birth rate began after World War Two. “The real decline started in 1975, with 17 babies between 1976 and 1987, when the last boy was born – until little Pablo,” he says. [BBC]

Lebanon returns Israeli vulture cleared of spying –
A huge vulture detained in Lebanon on suspicion of spying for Israel has been returned home after UN peacekeepers intervened, Israeli officials said. The bird, which has a 1.9m (6ft 5in) wing span, flew over the border from an Israeli game reserve and was caught by Lebanese villagers on Tuesday. They became suspicious as the griffon vulture had a tracking device attached to its tail. It is part of a conservation project to reintroduce raptors to the Middle East. Wildlife officials say the vulture was brought from Spain last year and set free about a month ago in the Gamla Nature Reserve in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Tel Aviv University is involved in tracking the bird, and as well as a GPS transmitter, it had tags on its wings and an engraved metal ring on its leg saying: “Tel Aviv Univ Israel”. [BBC]

People are freaking out over their results on the JK Rowling approved Harry Potter Sorting Hat test –
There have been Harry Potter Sorting Hat quizzes online for years, but this one has actually been approved by the author. JK Rowling has made, or approved, a quiz to go on her Pottermore website, which purports to accurately tell you what house you should be in. The quiz asks a series of personality questions, and sorts you in to your true house.
It tells you whether you are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. You can take the Pottermore quiz here. {Daily Telegraph]In October 2015 JK Rowling dismissed Harry Potter fan theories about time travel and werewolvesJ. K. Rowling

Sir Terry Wogan: Tributes paid to veteran broadcaster –
Tributes have poured in for veteran BBC broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan who has died aged 77, after a short illness. BBC director general Tony Hall hailed him as “a broadcasting legend”. Sir Terry hosted a long-running TV chat show, fronted the Eurovision Song Contest and was the face of Children in Need, while his Radio 2 breakfast show regularly had around 8m listeners. Sir Terry, who had not been seen in public since November when he pulled out of hosting the annual Children in Need telethon, died “after a short but brave battle with cancer”, his family said. He leaves his wife Helen and their three children. The couple also had a daughter who died in infancy. [BBC]Terry Wogan in 2005 receiving his Knighthood

Bill Gates 8 Desert Island Discs [BBC]David Bowie and Queen – Under Pressure: “In my 20s and 30s, I worked a lot. But a few Fridays and Saturdays we’d go out and dance so this kind of reminds me of those disco days.”Willie Nelson – Blue Skies: “My wife Melinda and I love Willie Nelson. So as a surprise gift for her, I had him show up the night before we got married. We were on a beach in Hawaii and he kind of walked down the beach with his guitar and I said, ‘Well here he is, let’s have this guy sing some songs for us.'”Ed Sheeran – Sing: “My kids, who are 19, 16, and 13, refresh my musical taste by tuning the radio or calling up songs on their phones. And so this is one that my 13-year-old, Phoebe, happens to like.”Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced: “Because I was younger [Paul Allen] would sometimes taunt me with the title of this song – Are You Experienced – because I hadn’t gotten drunk or other various things, so this is one of our favourites.”U2 – One: “Paul told me that I should meet Bono, and I didn’t prioritise it. We finally did get to meet and I was amazed how he had thought about [global health] read about it, and so started a partnership. He has been absolutely amazing.”The Beatles – Two of Us: “Steve [Jobs] was really into music and he loved the Beatles and so did I. And he actually mentioned the song, Two of Us, saying that was kind of like this journey we’d been on where we’d been competing and working together.”How Can Love Survive, from the Sound of Music: “Melinda and I both love the Sound of Music and as I met [investor and philanthropist] Warren Buffett, he and his first wife Susie sang a song from The Sound of Music. In fact this is one we’d never heard because it was in the Broadway musical and not in the movie. It’s kind of a cute song so Melinda and I think of this as one of our favourites.”My Shot from Hamilton, the musical: “It’s about a young person saying, ‘Hey I’m going to take a risk – I’m going to get out there and try and do something new and different.'”

Japan deploys two MIM-104 Patriotsurface-to-air missile interceptor systems in Tokyo in preparation for any North Korean ballistic missiles potentially heading for the city. The deployment comes amid concerns of an imminent North Korean missile launch following the detection of “increased activity” at a North Korean missile facility. (RT)

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